“A coach is someone who tells you what you don’t want to hear, who has you see what you don’t want to see, so you can be who you have always known you could be.” – The Trillion Dollar Coach

The most important role any coach has is to put the team first. In youth sports, this is especially tough because most parents do not understand that. They have been looking out for their little one with blinders on so why or how can they see past the three-year-old who is now 16 and driving? My guiding principle is that the team is paramount and the most important thing I look for and expect in people is a “team-first” attitude!

What most good coaches understand is that it is their job to put the team first no matter what. Charles Darwin wrote in his book The Descent of Man: “A tribe including many members who, from possessing in a high degree the spirit of devotion, dependability, respect, courage, and kindness, were always ready to aid one another, and to sacrifice themselves for the common good, would be victorious over most other tribes; and this would be natural selection.” This should be a mantra for all teams and all its stakeholders.

Teams are not successful unless every member, including parents, is loyal and will, when necessary, subjugate their personal agenda to that of the team.